Leftists in the US are really making the most of the Trump era - hard to imagine their electoral successes withouth the anti-Trump backlash. Will be curious to see whether this will be a historical outlier, or the beginning of a bigger shift longterm.

New chapter: "Political Mobilization in Arab Countries: Grievances, Efficacy, and Identity" Our network member Tareq Sydiq, together with Miquel Pellicer, contributes to The I.B. Tauris Handbook of Authoritarianism in the Arab World, ed. Dana El Kurd. www.bloomsburycollections.com/encyclopedia...

Seems like the differences in Trumps close circle about the war are breaking more and more into the open. After loyalty to Trump smoothed over this initially, not winning decisively will create more tension www.bbc.com/news/article...

Asking legislators to either vote to pay for a deeply unpopular war already increasing consumer prices, or break with a sitting president still popular at the party base, will surely play well in the midterms four months from now. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/u...

Hegseth Estimates Iran War Has Cost $37.5 Billion

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is requesting as much as $70 billion in emergency military spending after nearly five months of war.

nytimes.com

This administration is really winning in one policy area: Nuclear proliferation apnews.com/article/trum...

Trump approves nuclear agreement that may allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium, 2 AP sources say

President Donald Trump has approved an agreement with Saudi Arabia that could potentially provide the kingdom with uranium enrichment capability for its civilian nuclear program.

apnews.com

📣 📕 Out NOW: Demobilising the Far Right. In his new book, Michael Zeller ( @lmu.de ) examines how #activists, civil society groups and other societal actors have responded to far-right #mobilisation in #Austria, #England, and #Germany over the past three decades. buff.ly/2cOq2sO

Der Absturz der Union ist so tragisch wie beeindruckend pollytix.de/leistungen/w...

New review article now available in @govandopp.bsky.social open access: @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social and I analyse the vast and diverse scholarly literature on authoritarian regimes extending their influence abroad.

Yeah so turns out there risks at running political outsiders. In this case, it might cost Dems one of their best pickup opportunities www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...

I think right now a real-time example of the risks of vague ceasefires is unfolding. The attacks on vessels were likely due to them using a southern route (see: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...), and no clear timeline or conditions defined of what Iran needs to do in Hormuz.

This is big www.lemonde.fr/politique/li...

EN DIRECT, procès en appel de Marine Le Pen : la cheffe de file des députés RN est condamnée à trois ans de prison, dont deux avec sursis, et 45 mois d’inéligibilité, dont 30 avec sursis

Marine Le Pen devra purger un an de prison ferme sous bracelet électronique. La cour d’appel de Paris a par ailleurs considéré que la peine d’inéligibilité (15 mois ferme) avait été purgée. Tous ses c...

lemonde.fr

Albania has seen protests for two months, and I would bet the government did not think this would be such a big issue. Curious to see how many movements begin with environmental issues, and spiral when issues like corruption, state violence and mismanagement are linked. www.dw.com/en/albanias-...

Albania's 'Flamingo Revolution': What's behind the protests?

For weeks now, images of crowds of Albanians protesting on the streets have been relayed around the world. The protesters say they are fighting for democracy. PM Edi Rama insists the movement is part ...

dw.com

It's out! The full "Handbook on Authoritarianism in the Arab World" is available open access here: www.bloomsburycollections.com/encyclopedia...

Way to tell Netanyahu that, in Trump's view, he is now deemed less reliable than a former Islamist militant www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/w...

Trump Suggestion of a Syrian Crackdown on Hezbollah Confounds Many in Mideast

nytimes.com

Well this lasted long

Just saw that the handbook is already available online; print version to follow soon! www.bloomsbury.com/us/ib-tauris...

Interesting new article on how interest groups navigate backsliding in CEE countries www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Another day of far-right violence and pogroms in the UK. A country that still labels these thugs “protesters”, that claims “this isn’t Britain”, that fails to take responsibility for empowering and enabling these thugs, where the media is too afraid to call the forces behind this “far right”

What a great start to this conference, and what a great way to celebrate a historic day www.sns.it/it/evento/so...

After PP's corruption scandal in 2018 (and no-confidence motion against Rajoy), they lost half their seats and paved the way for seven years of left-wing governments under Sanchez. Now PSOE face similar accusations. www.politico.eu/article/pedr...

Spanish police raid headquarters of PM Sánchez’s Socialist Party

Agents were sent to obtain evidence for an ongoing probe into the alleged illegal financing of the country’s ruling party, Spanish media reported.

politico.eu

Erinnert stark an die 90er - mit mehr parlamentarischer Repräsentation und KI. taz.de/Rechtsradika...

Rechtsradikale Bewegung: Hollands Hassbürgertum

In den Niederlanden nehmen Proteste gegen Asylunterkünfte zu. Die Demonstrierenden selbst nennen sich „besorgte Bürger“. Ein Ortsbesuch.

taz.de

How do citizens in autocracies respond to government-sponsored information? Susumu Annaka, @mhigashi.bsky.social & Gento Kato find government-provided information didn't significantly alter perceptions of the #COVID19 virus. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/Ii14L74 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #kazakhstan

Belated but happy to finally share: I began a professorship in Critical Heritage & Memory Studies at Uni Cologne earlier this year. Please stay tuned for future announcements — exciting things are in the works. Meanwhile, I’m very happy to say that I’m hiring: www.stellenwerk.de/koeln/resear...

🚨 Job alert! 🚨 Predoc position on foreign and security policy attitudes in the Baltic Sea region (3.5 yrs, 65%) Research on democratic resilience and societal responses to security crises. Open to different approaches and interests. Deadline: 30 June 2026 🔗 www.uni-greifswald.de/en/universit...

Dass in der aktuellen INSA Umfrage die AfD 7 Prozentpunkte(!) vor der CDU liegt, verdeckt, dass schwarz-gelb (25%) genauso abgesackt ist wie rot-grün (26%). Von politischen Lagern braucht man wirklich nichtmehr zu sprechen.

It seems like the negotiations are once again focussed on the nuclear program, with the conditions for a moratorium on enrichment being most contentious (five to twenty years) www.axios.com/2026/05/06/i...

Exclusive: U.S. and Iran closing in on one-page memo to end war, officials say

Nothing has been agreed, but sources say this is the closest the parties have come to an agreement.

axios.com

"#Krieg ist allgemein eine schlechte Ausgangslage für #zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen“, erklärt 📣 @teraqerat.bsky.social, @unimarburg.bsky.social @tagesspiegel.de: Was folgt aus der #Waffenruhe?: „Weder die #USA und #Israel noch #Iran haben gewonnen“

Was folgt aus der Waffenruhe?: „Weder die USA und Israel noch Iran haben gewonnen“

Was genau wurde vereinbart, wie reagiert Israel und wie sind die Chancen auf ein dauerhaftes Abkommen? Wie Experten die Lage einschätzen.

buff.ly

I really think Mamdani is underselling the PR value of directly taxing the U.S. president in his proposal

Signals, but no official confirmations, that talks will continue apnews.com/live/iran-wa...